Content Area(s): Life Science Topic: Health/Medicine Short description: Doctors removed white blood cells from a cancer patient’s blood and altered them with disabled HIV genes. When they put the white blood cells back into her bloodstream, they began to multiply and started destroying the cancer cells.
Claim: Genes from HIV might be useful in fighting cancer.
Keywords: gene, cancer Difficulty of Concept: Hard
MS-ETS1 Engineering Design
MS-ETS1-1. Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions.
Common Core State Standards Connections:
ELA/Literacy
RST.6-8.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts, attending to the precise details of explanations descriptions.
RST.6-8.8 Distinguish among facts and reasoned judgment based on research findings, and speculation in a text.
WHST.6-8.1 Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content.
WHST.6-8.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational text to support analysis, reflection and research.
SL.8.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions(one-on-one, in groups, teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 6 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
Human Immunodeficiency Virus, known as HIV, may be a new tool in the fight against cancer. The virus, which causes the disease AIDS, has been used by researchers to destroy cancer cells in patients suffering from leukemia, a kind of cancer of the blood. The research team was led by Dr. Carl June of the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. June took a harmless version of HIV and combined it with genetically modified white blood cells from his patients. White blood cells are part of the body's defenses against disease. The cells were modified to target cancer cells specifically. The new white blood cells were then injected back into the patients where they multiplied and started to fight the cancer.
To everyone's surprise, all three patients that this was tested on have improved. In two of the patients, all detectable cancer cells were removed, and in the third there was a 70% reduction in the cancer. On average, the equivalent of five pounds of cancer cells were removed from each patient by the blood cells. Even better news is that the modified blood cells will stay in the patient and guard against a return of the cancer.
Currently, leukemia is treated with chemotherapy and radiation. Both of these have unpleasant or even dangerous side effects. They are why cancer patients often lose their hair and feel weak or sick. Some patients even have bone marrow from healthy donors transplanted into their bodies to help make healthy blood cells. With the new treatment, the patients only need one injection and their own white blood cells do all of the work. Now the scientists have to see if the results can be replicated across other patients. They also want to find out if the treatment will work for other kinds of cancer. If so, millions of people could be helped by HIV, a virus that has killed millions in the past.
Title: Using the AIDS Virus to Cure Cancer
Content Area(s): Life ScienceTopic: Health/Medicine
Short description: Doctors removed white blood cells from a cancer patient’s blood and altered them with disabled HIV genes. When they put the white blood cells back into her bloodstream, they began to multiply and started destroying the cancer cells.
Claim: Genes from HIV might be useful in fighting cancer.
Keywords: gene, cancer
Difficulty of Concept: Hard
Reading Level (Pit Stop 8 Article):
Flesch Reading Ease: 76.8Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level: 6.31
Lexile: 1110
Next Generation Science Standards:
MS-ETS1 Engineering DesignMS-ETS1-1. Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions.
Common Core State Standards Connections:
ELA/LiteracyRST.6-8.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts, attending to the precise details of explanations descriptions.
RST.6-8.8 Distinguish among facts and reasoned judgment based on research findings, and speculation in a text.
WHST.6-8.1 Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content.
WHST.6-8.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational text to support analysis, reflection and research.
SL.8.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions(one-on-one, in groups, teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 6 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
Vocabulary Words: HIV, leukemia, chemotherapy, radiation
Topic of Game Introduction Video: Do's and Don'ts: Reasonable Arguments
Link to Game Introduction Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDfe-D8qXII
Full Text of Article:
Human Immunodeficiency Virus, known as HIV, may be a new tool in the fight against cancer. The virus, which causes the disease AIDS, has been used by researchers to destroy cancer cells in patients suffering from leukemia, a kind of cancer of the blood. The research team was led by Dr. Carl June of the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. June took a harmless version of HIV and combined it with genetically modified white blood cells from his patients. White blood cells are part of the body's defenses against disease. The cells were modified to target cancer cells specifically. The new white blood cells were then injected back into the patients where they multiplied and started to fight the cancer.To everyone's surprise, all three patients that this was tested on have improved. In two of the patients, all detectable cancer cells were removed, and in the third there was a 70% reduction in the cancer. On average, the equivalent of five pounds of cancer cells were removed from each patient by the blood cells. Even better news is that the modified blood cells will stay in the patient and guard against a return of the cancer.
Currently, leukemia is treated with chemotherapy and radiation. Both of these have unpleasant or even dangerous side effects. They are why cancer patients often lose their hair and feel weak or sick. Some patients even have bone marrow from healthy donors transplanted into their bodies to help make healthy blood cells. With the new treatment, the patients only need one injection and their own white blood cells do all of the work. Now the scientists have to see if the results can be replicated across other patients. They also want to find out if the treatment will work for other kinds of cancer. If so, millions of people could be helped by HIV, a virus that has killed millions in the past.
References/Sources:
Additional Content:
Author: Kathy Carlsen